Patient Rights

This information is given to you because both the hospital and you as a patient have Rights and Responsibilities. Please read this information.

Access to Care

Individuals shall be given fair and equal access to treatment and room space that is available or physician ordered, regardless of race, creed, sex, national origin, or ability to pay for care.

Respect for Dignity

The patient has the right to considerate respectful care at all times and in all situations, with recognition of his personal dignity.

Privacy and Confidentiality

The patient has the right, within the law, to personal and informational privacy, as shown by the following rights:

To refuse to talk with or see anyone not officially connected with the hospital, including visitors, or persons officially connected with the hospital but not directly involved in his care.

To wear appropriate personal clothing and religious or other symbolic items, as long as they do not interfere with medical procedures or treatment.

To be interviewed and examined in an area designed to assure reasonable visual and auditory privacy. This includes the right to have a person of one’s own sex present during certain parts of a physical examination or treatment.

When a procedure is performed by a health professional of the opposite sex, the patient has the right not to remain undressed any longer than is required for completing the medical purpose for which the patient was asked to undress.

To expect that any discussion of consultation involving his case will be conducted privately and that people not directly involved in his care will not be present without his permission.

To have his medical record read only by those directly involved in his treatment or in the monitoring of its quality. Other people can only read his medical record on his written permission or that of his legally authorized representative.

To expect all communications and other records concerning his care, including the payment for treatment, to be treated as confidential.

To request a transfer to another room if another patient or a visitor in the room is disturbing him.

To be placed in protective privacy when considered necessary for personal safety.

Personal Safety

The patient has the right to expect reasonable safety insofar as the hospital practices and environment are concerned.

Identity

The patient has the right to know the identity and professional status of those providing service to him and to know which physician or other practitioner is primarily responsible for his care. This includes the patient’s right to know of the existence of any professional relationship among individuals who are treating him, as well as the relationship to any other health care or educational institutions involved in his care. Participation by patients in clinical training programs or in the gathering of data for research purposes should be voluntary.

Information

The patient has the right to obtain from the practitioner responsible for coordinating his care, complete and current information concerning his diagnosis (to the degree known), treatment, and any known probable outcome. This information should be communicated in terms the patient can be expected to understand. When it is not medically advisable to give such information to the patient, the information should be made available to a legally authorized individual.

Communication

The patient has the right to see or talk to people outside the hospital by means of visitors and by verbal and written communication. When the patient does not speak or understand the most commonly used language of the community, he shall be able to use an interpreter. This is particularly true where language barriers are a continuing problem.

Consent

The patient has the right to informed participation in decisions involving his health care. To the degree possible, this should be based on a clear, brief explanation of his condition and of all proposed procedures, including the possibilities of any risk of death or serious side effects, problems related to recovery, and probability of success. The patient should not have any procedure without his voluntary, competent, and understanding consent or the consent of his legal authorized representative. Where other medical options for care or treatment exist, the patient shall be so informed. The patient has the right to know who is responsible for authorizing and performing the procedures or treatment. The patient shall be informed if the hospital plans to engage in or perform human experimentation or other research/educational projects affecting his care or treatment; the patient has the right to refuse to participate in any such activity.

Consultation

The patient, at his own request and expense, has the right to consult with a specialist.

Refusal of Treatment

The patient may refuse treatment if law permits it. When refusal of treatment by the patient or his legally authorized representative prevents him from receiving professionally recognized medical care, the relationship with the patient may be terminated upon reasonable notice.

Transfer and Continuity of Care

A patient may not be transferred to another facility or organization unless he has received a complete explanation of the need for the transfer and of the medical options to such a transfer and unless the transfer is acceptable to the practitioner for his care, or his delegate, of any continuing health care requirement following discharge from the hospital.

Hospital Charges

Regardless of the source of payments for his care, the patient has the right to request and receive itemized and detailed explanation of his total bill for services received in the hospital.

The patient has the right to be given, upon request, full information and necessary counseling on the availability of known financial resources for his care.

The patient has the right to know if eligible for Medicare, upon request, and in advance of treatment, whether the healthcare provider accepts the Medicare assignment rate.

The patient has the right to timely notice, prior to termination of his eligibility for reimbursement by any third party payer, the cost of his care.

Hospital Rules and Regulations

The patient should be informed of the hospital rules and regulations that apply to conduct as a patient. Patients are entitled to information about how to start, review, and complete a patient complaint.